Who is the Solicitor General and what does he do?

I’ve used the phrase “Solicitor General” several times in the last few months (see here and here), but haven’t explained what that means. For the non-lawyers and law students in the group, the short answer is this: The Solicitor General is the lawyer who represents the United States in all cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. It’s a highly respected position that has been held by several famous attorneys, including U.S. Supreme Court Justices Robert Jackson, Thurgood Marshall, and Elena Kagan. Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito also worked in the Solicitor General’s office early in their careers.

The Solicitor General and his staff do much more than just argue before the Supreme Court. For more on that, see this informative SCOTUSblog post: What does the Solicitor General do?